Book or web-pages about road bike building
Can anyone recommend a book (or web pages) that will show me how to build a reasonable 'starter' road bike? I can't afford to buy a new road bike with decent specifications (e.g. Shimano 105 for most of the moving mechanicals) but I might be able to find a reasonable S/H frame and other parts from members here or on other forums (or even that well known auction site :roll: )
I've looked at the Amazon reviews for Bicycle Design by Mike Burrows and I'm slightly put off by one review that states:
"The author's highly informal and at times slapdash style will annoy some readers, and despite the most recent edition being published in 2008 most of the content reads as though it were written in about 1995, albeit with some hastily tacked-on updates at the end of some of the chapters."
I'm really looking for some form of workshop instruction manual that will tell me (a) what to look for and (b) how to put it all together.
I've looked at the Amazon reviews for Bicycle Design by Mike Burrows and I'm slightly put off by one review that states:
"The author's highly informal and at times slapdash style will annoy some readers, and despite the most recent edition being published in 2008 most of the content reads as though it were written in about 1995, albeit with some hastily tacked-on updates at the end of some of the chapters."
I'm really looking for some form of workshop instruction manual that will tell me (a) what to look for and (b) how to put it all together.
Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're probably right.
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Smokin Joe,
Cheers.
I wonder if they do the whole series as a .PDF manual? If not, perhaps tit would be nice if they did.Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're probably right.0 -
Well, what do you know, they do publish a workshop manual and it's available in the UK
Big Blue Book of Bike Repair - 2nd Edition, around £20 - £24 delivered
Available on-line (not Amazon UK) and from various bike shops (just Google it)
Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're probably right.0 -
I've also just found "Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance" and having looked at both this and the Big Blue Book, plus talking with some very helpful staff at the Leeds branch of Edinburgh Bicycles, I've bought the Zinn. Having skimmed through it and read a couple of chapters in detail, I think that it's a very useful primer for anyone who's new to modern cycle design and equipment, and wants to build and/or maintain their road bike.Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're probably right.0
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I want to buy the Zinn book because it gets such good reviews but there is a new version out later in the year so I am going to wait. I guess if you are wanting to build a bike now then that's not really going to work for you.
Noone has mentioned Sheldon Brown's website yet. It's great although it can be difficut to find stuff on it.
I think your plan of buying second hand to get more bike for your money is great. From what I've seen though, rather than buying all the bits individually, it is cheaper (and you'll be on the road more quickly) if you start off by buying a whole bike. Get one with a good enough frame that fits you and that has working components so you can start riding straight away. Then decide which components you want to uprgade and get them cheaply on ebay and from here. People on ebay will buy all the parts you take off it as well.
This approach means that you only need to learn how the components work one by one, as you are replacing them. And you'll have a working example before you take the old one off. Most bike parts are quite simple, you can learn a lot just from seeing them working on a bike.0 -
Everything you need to know can be found on here via online video clips and they do DVDs too:
http://bicycletutor.com/0
